9m including 8x 300m of 60s

Third week of track work and as we increased to 300m my ambitions to do ten were never likely to come to fruition due to the jump being too big and the weather being too hot.

After my error at the begining we ran away from the track which was pretty dumb and too over four miles at just under 8s.

Long route to the track (4.12m)



At the track there were some serious looking groups hanging around and after a quick water stop we were away.

During rep two I discovered shouting "Track!" in a French accent had the desired effect as the bloke on the inside lane jumped out the road and the ones on the outside drifted out to let us through.

First few were fine and Tenke creamed past in the first few seconds and pulled away, I could hold the gap at a few meters on the first 3 but by the fourth I could not keep the speed and my time had dropped from 56 to 59. Tenke was cross, what's the point of doing 10 if you cant even hold the pace on 4? 5th was a joke as was 6th at 66 and 67 respectively, but then we agreed to call it a day at 8 and by now I had recovered and cleared the 7th in 55. Head was swiming, heat was searing and I felt like I was going to die. 8th was 64 and I could do no more. Water then home, on the direct route!

Hrt was maxed out on the sub 60 reps and made zone 5 on all of them. Nice to see the instant drop to zone 3 as soon as I stop.

Short route back from the track (2.71m)



Stopped at every fountain for water. I was very tired after the track. At the last one I put my head right under, instant recovery.

Very pleased with the day's work.

Cross training in the Gym

10mins bike, 10mins ergo. Yawn Yawn.

Some upper body then some circuits outside on the terrace.

Running is so much better.

New pb from office to train in suit. 6:30, phew. Just caught the train....

6m ish easy to steady with Tenke

Both tired and could not face going up the airport hill, so instead did two loops of the field at the far point of the run.



Ran free today, so all I know was it was tough to keep up through the last mile, but not that tough. Total time on feet was 40mins so that was seriously faster than the weekend's activity, if less hilly.

Rest day tomorrow in anticipation of more track work on Wednesday.

5.4m super easy duathalon with Stephan

Our kids needed to be at the pool in Aubonne for the scouts end of term fun sesson so I talked Stephan into a few km on the Aubonne trails.

We were both camelbak-ed up as the temperature 29 and the smell of sun cream wafted up from the pool as the massed sun worshoppers creamed up.

We set off and the first section involves some technical trail work and a steep climb out of the river valley to catch the road. That got the hrt high early. But then that was it. My idea of a long run is one hour out then another back, while Stephan was adamant that one hour was the max time on feet. On the flat and down hill Stephan was fine going at a respectable pace, but on the up hill I guess walking would be a fair description of the pace set. I did the old runing round in circles waiting thing, but to no avail, when Stephan walks that's it he is walking.

Made to the Arboretum which is a lovely spot and looped around the lake before returning on the same route we'd taken out bound. On the way back I tried to convince Stephan to continue down into the old town and sprint the last section from the castle arch up to the court yard at the top to find his true hrt max, but he was having none of if. As soon as we saw the pool he hit stop on his Garmin and that was it. Stunningly slow with only 5.4m done in 54:55 - now thats TEN minute miles. Jason where were you? you'd have loved it!

Five francs later I'm in the freezing pool and must have done at least 6 lengths before I joined the masses sunning themselves on the grass. I even did two lengths of front crawl breathing only on the off side. Kenny would have been proud of me! Great story from a triathalon Stephan did 20 years ago, he's even slower in the pool than on the hills, so when he came out the pool he was last by miles, but he managed to catch plently on the run and his stongest leg was the bike where he caught even more. I'm the inverse. I'm sure I could get my swimming up to sratch eventually, but the bike is my weakest link. Driving my car at the speed some of these guys cycle at is a challenge for me.....

3.5m easy run

Park Eaux vives - super easy and free of electronics.

Ran easy, normal variation. Ran through some stiffness from the 200s and the niggles eased after about 3miles! Perfect.

Caught some ladies on the last section, but the stink of sun cream was too much from me, I could not tuck in and follow them home, I just had to overtake and get away from the whiff of amber solaire.

10x 200m reps 6miles

Up to the stadium today. Felt like a long way there today, but perhaps that was more to do with the fact this was the third day on the trott of running with Tenke, I was tired!

By the time we got to the stadium, I had satellites finally locked on and my workout uploaded the night before we were ready to rock.

Plan was I'd push out on the first 100m of each rep, Tenke would draw level at this point and hold the pace for me through to the 200m point. I'd programmed 45s recovery which was enough time to jog to the next line and go again. Top tip, don't trust the garmin on the track, I found the lines on the ground are more accurate - but pressing lap does the trick when you hit the line.

After 3 reps my hrt was hitting 90% of max and I could not think straight. It felt like the track was the wrong length!

Tenke had a massive bruise on her leg from trying to get into a swimming pool when the metal barrier sprang back and whacked her. The injury was deep and getting worse. Tenke switched from running buddy to coach, calling the times of my reps and how many left. She also cut across the track to wait for me at the correct line which was just as well as I had no idea what was going on.

Easy back on new route 2.6 miles makes this the nicer and shorter route.

I really needed a drink and Tenke was gutted when I stopped at a big ornate fountain that had a water spout a foot to far away for her to reach. Luckily a short jog took us to fountain stop two which was as Tenke put it "short people friendly".

5m connecting the trails

Garmin was all over the shop today, hence the whacky map.

Tenke has decided the slow runs are too slow and she has started wearing her XC team tops which have words on them like "Champion" and that's not the brand!

So we pelted around on a supposed easy run at 7:41 pace for 5 miles and still it was not enough. "Can you do your slow runs at weekend?" was Tenke's reposte when I hinted that the pace might be a shade fast for an easy run.

We connected the zoo & cemetery park to the railway bridge, looped around the park and when Tenke stopped for water I took a ride on the zip wire and then she a go and complained it was not fast enough so I pushed her along to speed her up, ah he child inside....

Hrt was high on the way back 8 of the 42 mins in zone four which explains why I needed a wee snooze tonight....

6m Trails with Tenke

Easy run, 8:30 min mile pace. However, factor in the vertical hills, steps, mad footpaths with 100m vertical drops on the side in the Rhone, this was respectable.

Windy but sunny, summer is perhaps back.

One dog, very tempted, but resisted the urge to jump over it.

Struggled on the steep hills, gasping for air and had to stop talking.

Sets up the week for some longer reps, so Tenke can keep up.

14.3m St. Prex

Jason rang on Friday to let me know he wanted to do at least 20km tomorrow.

St. Prex out and back fitted the bill. I figured two hours would be plenty of time for mr. sub 50 for 10km to clear 20km.

But alas the pace was too easy out. By the time we touched the St. Prex sign on the pier we'd used up 1h 10mins, so not good. I had to be back by 9am. Time of day, 8:10am. Opps. Jason wins comment of the day with, "I hope you are not going to do a Tenke on me...."

So, I cranked up the pace and held it on the hills dragging Jason along. But by the time we crossed the Aubonne on the way back I waited for him at the gate and explained my new route home, no trails all main road and oh yeah quite a bit faster. He decided to follow me and by the time we got to Allaman I could hear him working away behind me. I kicked again and really needed to work hard to get back in time. Was up in zone 4 most of the way back and this was extreme negative split territory. About 2 miles out I worked out I was just going to make it so the hrt dropped and the pace fadded slightly.

Made it home at 9:02, just just!

Went outside to wait for Jason with Lia and a couple of towels and a bottle of water. By 9:15 I was getting worried, then at 9:17 he rocks up WALKING with a bag of breakfast for his family. Phew. After Garmin hit 23km he decided to stop running and walk home.

He came in for a fruit juice and Lia went and got some t-shirts to show him....

3.5m easy run

Parc Eaux Vives, normal variation.

Easy does it.

No dogs.

6m Geneva Track and 8x 100m

London weather. Rain. More rain. Lets go to the track. Do we have to? enquires Tenke, yes is the answer.

3 miles later we are there and it is a lovely track. Great condition and fantastic value for money. One guy jogging around and another doing 400m reps or something.

I suggest a few 100m sprints and we settle on run up the track, turn jog back as the recovery and go for 8.

The shocking revelation is that due to my long stride, ability to accelerate quickly, and perhaps more to the point, Tenke's lack of race fitness means that my 16 or 17 seconds to clear the 100m is just faster than she can do it. Wow. I've never been in front of Tenke before, and it is a weird sensation to hear her footfalls behind me. All 8 reps were steady with first two no bother and the rest all well into the 95% range and the jog back just about right to get the hrt back to somewhere sensible for the next one.

7:45min miles out and 8 min miles back.

Tenke nearly jumped a pram, but decided against it, to show solidarity with my decision to abstain from dog jumping...

5.55m steady with Tenke

Tenke came in on the bus and we ran out together towards her place for 25mins then I headed home long the lake.

We did the Parc Eaux-vives in reverse and the only interesting incident was where I actually thought about jumping a dog, but with Tenke's dislike for that habit I decided to check and jump right to mis it.

On the cylce path a guy on a bike had a hard lead attached to the back of a bike with a wee dog running along just able to keep up. Funny sight and again I had to check my dog jumping tendencies!

5 and a half miles, of which 3 were with Tenke, hrt droped from just in zone 4 to well inside zone 3 after Tenke left, but the pace only slowed by 12 sec per mile keeping my ave at 7:45min miles for the run.

Given how tired I was today, that will do nicely.

7m and the curious incident of the yappy dog

Tenke was back and very much up for today's early run, we normally go at lunchtime, but both had to be back by noon so we met at 10:30am to give us time for a decent run. The airport route fitted the bill and it was predicatbly ok on the first mile and a half.

Then the hill from hell. Striaght up 300 feet in just under a mile. I was struggling to talk half way up and Tenke suggested the park route, which was just as well as even at her easy pace I was deep in zone five and need some recovery.

At the plateau there was a wedding. We had to run around them out on the road, rather then through them and as it was very hot we took advantage of the church fountain. Holy water? Not sure about that, but the effect is miraculus. Tenke suggested truning back early and my refreshed retort is nah, well just come back fast. Opps.

I nearly manage to get us lost in the smallest woods in Switzerland by jumping a stream to see what was on the other side (answer nothing) and so slightly annoy switch-back had to be done here to get back to the route.

Now around here, something happens. I did not notice is at the time, but very slowly changed pace, from around 8min miles to 7:30min miles. Tenke does not want to be late. More water at the wedding and we zip down the hill. I make the mistake of telling Tenke the time of day. We're two miles out and she needs to get back, showered and changed and back over to this side of Geneva in 41 minutes. Only one thing was ever going to happen. Percieved effort rockets. I'm tired. Some of Tenke's lines were "I told you we should have truned back." Then to my "Why don't you push on for home" - "NO!" Last mile and a bit was spend in zone 5 trying to hold the pace. Eventually, Tenke relented and stopped accelerating. I stayed with the 7:13 pace back to the gym.

There is a little lake side path (about two people wide) which takes you along the lakeside to the place where the boats leave from. I like it as you get away from the road and it tends to be cooler next to the lake. The only problem can be if there are people on the path as you need them to move to get past. Coming towards us is an old couple with a tiny yappy dog. Mr moves to the side and Mrs sees us and starts trying to convince the dog to move to her side. Dog refuses. She's panicing and dogy thinks this is great. We are very close and I don't want to bump into Tenke, so as stopping is not allowed, I decide to jump the dog. The dog yellps and jumps up going for my heel. Tenke screams as she thinks I've just squished the little dog. I'm in stiches - as if I would squash a dog. Even an annoying yappy one. Tenke request that I bump into her rather than perform the dog jump next time.

4m easy, Parc Eaux-vives

Easy run with Tenke. Is that a contradition in terms?

Did the 3.6m loop around the park, at the end Tenke says with distain, "Like, you do realise we've only been running for 28 minutes?" That will be a new course record then.

So as this was clearly unacceptable we ran over the bridge and back to make it 30mins and then Tenke sped off into the elite distance.

8min min miles.

Oh yeah, Tenke also noticed the tree lined hill in the park that is crying out for some hill reps. Eeek.

13-15miles Gorhambury delights

A complex weekend - brother's stag do in Lincon to get to with the boys expecting me at highnoon, so I needed to be at the car hire place in St. Albans by 9am when it opened. Flew in to Luton and my good mate Dave picked me up and we were still chatting at 1am (which is 2pm with the time difference). I woke at 4:53 as the sun made short work of Dave's curtains and refused to let me get any sleep. By 6:45 we are in the car heading over to St. Albans as Dave has the perfect 13 mile route that will get us back well before 9am.

Dave wanted to show me his Gorhambury route, I've been on the first part of it before and recalled the gate that we are not supposed to cross before 8am. I was hoping to be challenged so I could pretend I only spoke French, but alas no-one except another runner and the kid on the bike on his way to open the gate at 8.

We went past this ruin, which is very impressive. We also past the "big" house which is not bad either.


I nearly swallowed a fly at one point and Dave got one in his eye. Yuck.

Pushed on, but decided it was time to head home and not get over ambitious. Going too far would not be good. Unfortunately, Dave's calculations did not take into account the 2 miles more to get to and from his usual start point so by now I am looking for short cut everywhere are time is pressing.

We get back to the start point of the fred hughes race and I have an urge to run around the Verulam lake and insist on us crashing through the trees at the first gap which involves a few meters of nettles - ouch! - so then that means we need to stop to introduce Dave to the joys of instant relief with a Doc leaf. That works, it is not just an old wive's tale as he thought.

Comment of the day goes to Dave - "Nettles are not good for my award winning legs!". Nice to see the young lad is staying modest!

So round the lake out and steady back as nearly 9am. Get there on the dot, towel off and get my running kit swapped for my travelling gear and say goodbye to Dave. It's 9am and bother I'm 4th in the queue and there is only one guy serving. Didn't get the car until 9:35 and was last to arrive at forest pines in Lincon. 3hours and a smashed windscreen later I'm enjoying my first pint with the boys.....

5m car hire drop

I've read about Kenny's car hire runs a few times.

Now today we were going to drop our cars together and run back.

I would like to point out that it was Ken that cleared the car hire company's sat nav out of the car (although it was kind of him to empty the car for me and deliver it back to the place once we realised it was in his house and not in the car).

Had I not been running late for the plane I would not have forced an injured man to keep running.

Speaking of the force, I can't describe this run any better than Ken did. Click here.

5m easy run, with Railway bridge

I decided to show Tenke my Geneva navigation skills and did so by showing her the railway bridge.

Highlight of the run was the very different colours of the rivers merging at the Junction of the Rhone and the Avre - you get a great view of this from the bridge.

Other than that, we both felt slugging, but hey we got out and who cares if it was 8:30 min miles.

3.5m easy run

Still not 100%, feeling under the weather and heavy legged.

Tempted by yoga, but the sun came out so armed with a fully charged Garmin I decided to see how far that easy run around the Parc Eaux Vives really is.

Well it is 3.53 miles or 5.69 km, so not very fall at all. But far enough to not be pointless. Just. And there is a hill. 200m and all in a very short space of time.

So off I went for another easy jaunt. Definately easy. Tenke is back in town and I need to take it easy if I'm going to run with her.

Fine all the way out, just a couple to telly tubbies to over take and a guy in front of them. Had to check myself at the bottom of the hill as I am so used to pushing it up that climb that I felt the speed increase and the hrt jump, then remembered, easy cowboy! Let myself enjoy the downhill, crashing through the trees.

About 8:30 min mile pace, so again manged to keep it easy, this means I should survive the next time out, which will be with Tenke. No stopping then.